Fireflies
by PantherlilysKiwi
Summary: A Fairy Tail High School AU focussing on the lives of four of Magnolia High's most unique students, and how they find love; be it hopeless, forbidden, overlooked or just plain confusing. Centering around Fraxus, Stingue, Elfgreen and Gratsu with bits of Lolu, Gajevy, Jerza, Chendy, Harla, Juviana and Milliagura.
1. Rogue

I sigh as everyone chatters around me, clad in new clothes and shiny shoes and exchanging stories about who did what over the recently finished summer break. I can feel the odd glance burn through my skull. I'm the kid that's had the same bag since year eight, who doesn't look people in the eye and say "Hello". I'm the kid who stares at the ground, hoping that people don't recognise me because I'm the kid that's different. It doesn't help that I ended up being late to form today, but I'd rather be a little late than have Frosch try and find student support by himself; he has no sense of direction. I place a hand to the back of my head, checking if my ponytail is still in place. My movement attracts some attention from across the room. I look to find a blonde boy with indigo eyes staring right at me. His average-height-leanly-muscular build is covered by a tight t-shirt, skinny jeans and a hoodie rimmed with faux fur. His face is slim and pointed and his features fit him perfectly. He has a diamond earring hanging from his ear that catches the light just so. He's cute. Very, _very_ cute. My heart is beating like crazy; he's beautiful. I realise that I'm staring and I'm almost certain that he can tell. I look back down and tell my brain to shut up. My homosexuality is the reason why I left my last school. If word gets out... I can't move again. I can't put my mother and Frosch through all of that again. I have to stay quiet. I bury my head in my hands. I have to make this work out. I have to just blend in and act like a shadow. Suddenly, I feel pressure on my shoulder.  
"Hey, are you okay?" I look up and see the blonde boy by my side. He looks even better up close. I can feel my heart going even faster than before. My eye catches his and he smiles at me and he looks like an angel.  
"Y-Yeah." I stutter before I can faint, "S-Sorry."  
"Don't apologise." The boy replies before sitting next to me. "What's your name?"  
I actually couldn't believe myself. I think that my heart's going to explode here and now.  
"R-Rogue." I choke out, "Rogue Cheney."  
"Sting Eucliffe," The boy, Sting, holds out his hand; "Pleasure to meet you."  
"Y-You too." I stutter, feeling myself blush. I grab his hand, and the contact sends me to cloud nine. Our hands fit perfectly together, and we both seem to hold on a little too long. I pull away, definitely blushing. I hope he doesn't notice. We sit in awkward silence for a bit, not daring to look the other in the eye. I know that this is bad. I want to get to know this boy.  
"U-Um..." I feel frantic. All I can think to say is _"I want you inside me"_ and that would not be the greatest conversation starter. "What do you have first lesson?"  
Sting looks at his timetable and sighs.  
"I've got English. You won't be in my class, though, I'm pretty dumb."  
"I doubt that." I reply, before looking at my timetable and finding I have the same thing. I show him and he looks surprised.  
"How are you in all the same sets as me? I must be the dumbest kid in school!"  
"School has never really been a priority for me." I reply. It's not a lie, ever since my mother got diagnosed six years ago, she and Fro have been top of my list.  
Sting shows he understands, but doesn't press me for more. Yet another attractive quality. He looks again at his timetable.  
"Looks like we got a new teacher for English." He says, mostly to himself. He looks up at me, "If there's no seating plan, do you, ya know, want to sit with me?" He blushes as he speaks and scratches the back of his neck. He's so adorable. If I didn't know better, I'd say I'm in love.  
"Y-Yeah," I reply in kind, "I'd love that." Sting smiles again, and I can't help but return it.  
Suddenly, the bell rings and Sting escorts me to English class. As we walk down a corridor, the crowd gets really heavy; Sting offers his arm and I grab it. We stay hand in hand until we reach the class, not even letting go when the crowds thin out.

 _I am so in love._


	2. Laxus

I stumble into English class like a zombie seeking caffeine. I've already had three cups of coffee this morning and it still isn't enough to banish this black cloud of fatigue hanging over my head. I sigh as I glance at the seating plan at the front of the room. It's not bad: I'm sat with Sting, my cousin, at the back of the class. I take my seat and dump my bags on the floor. I'm one of the first in. It's weird for me, I'm always late. I hear chattering and see Sting hand in hand with some black-haired newbie. I sigh, that kid is screwed. They see the seating plan and I can see Sting scowling. He makes his way to the seat next to mine and the black-haired newbie goes to sit with Natsu.  
"Who's the newbie?" I ask, my voice sounding monotonous and tired. It doesn't worry him though, it's usually like that.  
Sting looks around, making a big deal out of trying not to be heard.  
"His name's Rogue and he's a total babe." He gushes in whispers, "He's really shy and cute and sweet and nice and-"  
"Who you talking about?" Gray Fullbuster, who's on the next table, leans towards us, "Natsu?"  
"No, Gray," Sting replies, "I am not talking about your boyfriend."  
"Whose boyfriend?" Gajeel Redfox calls from the other side of the room,  
"Someone has a boyfriend?" Natsu yells from his seat next to the newbie.  
"Yes, Natsu, you." The others reply in unison. I rest my forehead on the table and the newbie must have smiled or something because the next minute Sting is attacking my shoulder and whispering,  
"Oh my god did you see that? He's so freakin' cute!"  
"You sure you're not talking about Natsu?" Gray's leaning over again and glaring at Sting.  
"No, Gray, I'm not!" Sting begins to get aggressive. Gray does the same. I groan; I know exactly where this is going.  
Sure enough, a fight ensues between Sting and Gray, and Natsu and Gajeel, being the violent bastards they are, join in too. Soon enough, it's a fight over who has the cutest significant other/love interest and if the newbie, Rogue I think it was, hasn't figured out that Sting wants to be inside him then he may as well be a potato waffle. An emo potato waffle.

The fight ensues for about five minutes before a man with long, emerald hair clad in crimson walks in as Gajeel yells,  
"Oh yeah, fuckwits? I bet none of your guys are half as good as Levy in bed!" and flips a table. Everyone sits looking totally startled. The boys fighting continue oblivious. The newbie looks like he's about to faint. The man, who I presume is the new teacher, clears his throat. The fight carries on. I sigh. There's only one way to solve this: doing an Erza.  
I get out of my seat and everyone's staring at me. I grab the four of them and smash their heads together.  
"I'm sorry Erza please don't hurt meee!" They all start crying like little girls. They look up and see me. I point forward at the new teacher wearing a very stern look on his face and they absolutely crap their pants. We go back to our seats and the teacher fixes a smile on his face.  
"Good morning class, my name is Mr. Justine, welcome to English. I trust you all had a nice summer." We sit there gaping. Was this guy blind? Did he not see the massive fight in his classroom? Mr. Justine sits down at his desk and logs in to his computer, opening his register. Before he starts, he adds as a side note,  
"I'll deal with the five of you later. Cana?"  
Cana answers her name. Mr. Justine works his way down the register, keeping his eye on the names on all those who were involved in the fight. Once the register has been taken, Mr. Justine makes his way to the front of the class and grabs a pile of blue exercise books.  
"Okay! These books are yours. You can decorate them how you please and do what you like with them. Just don't burn or rip them, okay?"  
"Yeah, Pyro!" Gajeel yells from across the room. The class laugh.  
"Oh yeah, Metal Face? What are you gonna do? use it as a new toy and shove it up Levy's vagina?!"  
A chorus of "Ooohh" came from around the room. I facepalm and look at the teacher to find that he's... amused? Sure enough, he looks like he's watching some kind of TV comedy. I smirk: this guy's pretty cool.  
"Oh yeah, Firetard?" Gajeel retaliates, oblivious to the fact that he's in a classroom, "What are you gonna do? Shove it up Ice Boy's ass?!"  
"More likely shove it up his own ass." Sting adds.  
"No, I'd be the one shoving it up his ass!" Gray yells. I plant my head on the desk, just wanting this to end. It looks like Mr. Justine is about to intervene when there's a knock on the door. Mr. Justine beckons the person in and it's none other than Levy McGarden, Gajeel's long-term (andvery intimate) girlfriend. Everyone laughs and Levy looks uneasy. She would: until she got with Gajeel, she got a load of crap for being smart and reading books.  
"U-Um can I get my coursework, please? My class was in here last year and I think it's still in the cabinet." She mutters.  
Mr. Justine nods and Levy makes her way to the cabinet where her coursework is which happens to be just past Gajeel's desk. She grabs her folder and starts making her way out of the class, but as she passes Gajeel, he goes along and slaps her butt. Levy yelps and hurries out the class blushing. Gajeel looks like he's just won the lottery. Mr. Justine writes Gajeel's name on the board and says  
"Save it for the bedroom, Gajeel."  
Even I almost die laughing. Maybe English will be fun this year.  
"Well class," he continues, "I think it's about time we got started, no?" The class quiets down and looks at Mr. Justine. He's made his impression, and everyone respects him. "So I can get to know you, and the quality of your writing, I would like you to write a description of yourself on the first page of your exercise book. You have fifteen minutes, and then I would like some of you to share."  
I sigh as I look down at the book in front of me.  
 _Who am I?_  
To be honest, I'm not really sure. Glancing around the room, I see everyone else has no problem writing away, especially Gray (the egotistical bastard). All I am is some kid with a messed up past. Sting leans back in his seat. He's done, by the looks of things. I touch my pen to the paper and write.

 _I don't know._

I put my pen down and look over Sting's book, but I can't quite see what he's written. The timer beeps and Mr. Justine stands back up, vibrant hair swishing around him. I don't get why I'm noticing it, I guess it's because the guy must take a hell of a lot of care of it: it takes Ever about six years to sort hers out and this is much longer and... nicer. It makes me want to run my fingers through it. But I did not just think that, because this guy is my teacher. My face flushes slightly and I hide it with my arms.  
 _What's happening?_  
I scowl as the teacher asks somebody to read. Sting volunteers immediately and gets picked. He picks up his book and stands, even though he isn't asked to. He moves slowly, carefully, for maximum comedic effect. He gestures to the teacher, who gestures right back. Sting clears his throat.  
"Hello." He starts, the class laugh. "My name is Sting Eucliffe, I'm fifteen years old and I'm very, very gay." The class absolutely lose their shit. Everyone is practically on the floor laughing. The new kid looks shell shocked, by the looks of things he came from a place where people aren't quite this open. Sting sits down, showing that that's all he's written. Mr. Justine pouts.  
"Is that all?" He asks, eyeing Sting up with an inquisitive look. His eyes sparkle and he just seems... _noticeable_. Noticeable in a way that I've never found anyone before.  
"Well yeah." Sting replies, "What else is there?"  
Mr. Justine raises a slender eyebrow. "Well, Sting, by the looks of things you're a pretty confident guy, and you definitely have quite the sense of humour." The class is silent, awestruck by the teacher's impressive psychoanalysis but also acting... not like a teacher. "You said that you're fifteen but you never told me about your birthday. You said that you're gay but you never told me about your type. Do you have any siblings? Any hobbies or interests? Who are your friends, Sting; who are you?"  
Everyone stares. Sting's mouth drops. This guy isn't like most teachers who would just yell. This guy's different.  
"Okay," He carries on like nothing's happened, like this is perfectly normal, "Who wants to go next?" Nobody raises their hand. "Laxus?"  
Everyone stares at me. I lean back in my seat and pick up my book.  
"I don't know." I read out. Some kids laugh, others look at the teacher, anxious to see his response. He stays silent and studies me with those quizzical ocean eyes and again I find myself noticing him, but I have no idea why. The silence is deafening. Suddenly, the bell rings and everyone starts to pack away. Mr. Justine immediately switches back into teacher mode.  
"Okay, have a good day, Laxus, Natsu, Sting and Gray you're all in detention this lunchtime; Gajeel, you're in after school on Thursday. Off you go."  
As we leave English, I can't help but think that this guy is really something else. I step out the door and take one last look inside. Mr. Justine smiles and I feel my heart flutter. But why? I stride ahead, I need to get to Music, but this damn English teacher is the only thing on my mind.  
 _What the hell is happening to me?_


	3. Evergreen

I sit at the edge of the dance floor, watching my foster sister and her friends glide across the floor, graceful as fairies. I scowl. Ever since I was a kid, Erza has always outshone me. I'm smart, but she's a genius; I like to think I'm pretty, but she's stunning. They call her Titania - Queen of the Fairies - a title I have always hoped to gain myself. As Erza's group finish their piece, the class eagerly applaud. Erza smiles with a slight blush as she and her friends take a seat. Erza claims to have stage-fright, but she still ends up doing everything _perfectly_. I hate that about her. The teacher, Mr. Ecor, applauds, makes some notes and asks me to perform. I'm last, as per usual, but I don't really care about that. I stand up, start my music, and begin to move. I start of slowly, stretching out each limb, graceful like a swan - like the true fairy queen. I get into the routine, following every step to the letter. As the routine builds up, I know what's coming: a handless cartwheel. Whilst easier than it sounds, it could result in serious injury. I step slowly to the corner of the floor and prepare to take off. My feet are about to leave the ground when I glance to the crowd to see them all just chatting to Erza and laughing. Not one of them is paying attention. Not one of them even cares. Before I've realised it, I take off wrong and land on my shoulder. Everyone turns and sees me on the floor, crumpled and disgraced. That's the only me that anyone sees. Before anyone can properly react, I get up and leave. I change out of my sports kit and put on my green blouse and skirt, swapping my trainers for ballet pumps and just go. As I sling my bag over my shoulder, I realise that my shoulder really hurts. I would go to the office and get it checked out, but I refuse to show weakness. I just have to move on. I head to Student Support; I'd love to just crash out in the girls' toilets but they're locked during lessons for precisely that reason. I walk in the room, take a seat and set my bag down, pulling out some homework I haven't done. As I make a start on the questions, the door opens again. Freed Justine, a man I've known since childhood, walks in the room. It's kinda awkward, considering he's the school's new English teacher, but he's a pretty great guy. Following him is a giant hulking mass I recognise as Elfman Strauss. His sisters are right in Erza's inner circle. He hangs out with the popular kids. I wrinkle my nose and go back to my maths homework. Elfman takes a seat near me and Freed - Mr. Justine - sits next to him. He gives him a task, explains it and then leaves. Elfman sits there, staring at his paper with a blank expression on his face. I look to my own to see that I have just one more section to do. I look at the first question.

 _Solve, using the quadratic formula:_  
 _x^2+7x- 113_

I sweatdrop. What the heck is the quadratic formula? Maths has never been my strong suit, but it's always been one of _Erza's_. I look up and see Elfman looking at me. He stammers for a second before speaking,  
"Um do you have any idea how Priestley uses Arthur Birling in 'An Inspector Calls'?"  
I want to shrug it off and just not bother, but I actually do have an idea and there's a nagging feeling at the back of my mind saying I should help this guy.  
"Well," I reply, "In the mocks, I just said that he uses him to promote his socialist views by making him a personification of capitalism and then making him unlikeable. Just waffle about that, it got me a B."  
"Oh! Thanks." He replies, writing down some notes. "You look like you're struggling. Do you need help?"  
I scowl. How dare he?! I don't struggle. Sure, sometimes I don't get it, but I don't _struggle_.  
"No! I'm fine." I huff, before saying a second later, "What's the quadratic formula?"  
Elfman chuckles, and I hate to admit it, but it's kinda cute.  
"It's minus b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus 4ac all over 2a."  
I stare at him.  
"In English, please?"  
He shows me how to do the question and we both set off to work again, him helping me with remembering the formula and me helping him with spelling. Finally, I finish, and he finishes too.  
"How do you remember that?"  
"A real man remembers stuff!"  
I sigh. He's been saying "real man" quite a lot. It's annoying, but cute, and I did not just think that.  
"Thanks for helping me." He says, I thank him in return.  
"Maths has never been my strong point, but my sister's great at it." I moan,  
"Don't even get me started on sisters, I mean, I love them to bits but they just have to outshine me in everything." He huffs in return. We look at each other and soon it's a whine-fest about sisters. It lasts a while and I find that the guy is actually kinda... nice? I kick myself internally. People are not nice. I'm only getting myself into trouble _again_. I look at the clock and see that the bell's about to ring. He does the same.  
"Hey um," Elfman says awkwardly, "I was wondering if you wanted to meet up this weekend?" The question catches me off guard, and I can feel my face flush.  
"Like on a-" I stutter, "D-date?"  
"U-um... Yeah. You know, if you want to?"

* * *

I sprint into the hall. It's break and there are two morons that I desperately need to find. I see the dark-blue-shaven-in-places head of Bickslow and run straight for it.  
"HIDE ME!" I squeak as I quickly sprint in between him and Laxus and take a seat by them, trying to conceal myself.  
"What happened, baby?" Bickslow asks.  
"IkindaendedupgettingaskedonadateandIsortasaidyes." I mutter, curling up into myself and screwing my eyes shut.  
"What was that?" Laxus replies mockingly. Before I can compose myself, my phone goes off. I open it up to find a text from Elfman.

 _"Hey. You left before we could arrange anything. Hope you haven't changed your mind. Ryuuzetsu Land on Saturday?"_

I completely choke up. I quickly reply.

 _"Um, yeah. That'd be good."_

I turn to face my friends who were now smirking at me like crazy. I shut my eyes, take a deep breath and say,  
"I have a date."  
Their faces light up. They love picking on me, but they also love seeing me happy. This gets them both. I kick myself mentally again. Is this really making me happy? I'm such a wreck!  
"Who with?" Bickslow sneers. I snap my head up to face him and mumble,  
"Elfman Strauss."  
"Who?"  
"Elfman Strauss." I repeat, a tiny bit louder.  
"Where is he?" Bickslow starts staring around, "I gotta tell him not to mess with our Ever, baby!" Bickslow takes off running, and I realise that I have to follow to avoid complete humiliation.  
"BICKSLOW YOU GREAT BUFFOON GET BACK HERE!" I chase after him. I think I hear Laxus say "sheesh" and get up to follow us, but right now I have an idiot to catch.  
 _What am I getting myself into?_


	4. Natsu

Gray and I walk hand in hand to the hall. We get a few odd looks in the corridors, but most people have gotten used to seeing us around. We reach the large, crowded room and join our friends, Lucy, Gajeel, Elfman and Loke.  
"Hey guys!" Lucy greets us from a table, her hand intertwined with Loke's.  
"Yo!" The aforementioned man adds. Gajeel gives a nod but Elfman says nothing, he just stares at his phone. I'm about to ask what's up when Erza, Mira and Lisanna come and join us, worried looks on their faces.  
"Have any of you seen Evergreen?" Erza asks,  
"Ever?" Elfman pipes up, looking up from his phone, he's about to continue when Bickslow starts running around the hall, Evergreen on his shoulder.  
"HEY EVERYONE!" He yells, a manic grin on his face, "EVER HAS A BOOOOOYFRIEND, BABY!" He laughs crazily, spinning around in circles and sending Evergreen's legs flying. He gets up on the stage and shouts to the whole hall, "YO! EVER'S BOYFRIEND! YOU BREAK HER HEART I'LL BREAK YOUR FACE, BABY!" He gives one last laugh and jumps off, finally letting a mortified Evergreen go. I look back at my friends to find that Elfman is suddenly very occupied with something in his bag. Mira sighs.  
"At least she's okay. Right, Erza?" We all look at Erza who seems to be trembling.  
"B-B-boyfriend?!" She splutters. "B-BOYFRIEND?!"  
Everyone goes into "oh shit" mode. It's like a preset for when Erza gets like this.  
"I'm gonna go find Jellal." Elfman mutters. Gray and I instantly volunteer to accompany him.

We head straight to the art block, as that's where Jellal prefects on a Monday break. Just outside, we see Sting and the kid I sat with in English chatting to each other. We wave hello and approach them when a group of kids who look like they're in year nine yell something homophobic. We're about to launch at them when a teacher comes out and drags them down to the head's office. We scowl at them the whole while. Once they're gone, Jellal comes out and greets us.  
"What was that all about?" he asks,  
"General dickheads." Gray snarls.  
Jellal sighs. "Really? How pathetic."  
It was right then that I got the most incredible idea ever. It's so incredible and I'm shocked that nobody else ever came up with it.  
"Why don't we start a GSA?"  
Everyone looks at me.  
"We could meet up in a classroom and find out who isn't an asshole and then find ways to get rid of the assholes!"  
Everyone stays silent. Probably stunned by how amazing my idea is.  
"Which teacher would go ahead with it?" Jellal asks.  
"What about the new one, Mr. Justine?" Sting adds, "He was pretty cool, I'm sure he'd let us do it! We have detention with him at lunch, we can ask then!"  
"Yeah!" I agree, quite excited about this.  
"The idea's a man and all," Elfman butts in, "But aren't we forgetting why we're here?"  
Gray and I sweatdrop.  
"What is it?" Jellal asks, worried.  
"Ever has a boyfriend." Gray says.  
"Oh shit."

* * *

Sting, Gray, Laxus and I sit in Mr Justine's classroom, copying down a poem that looks like it's for pre school kids about why we shouldn't fight.  
"You can draw a pretty picture too, if you'd like." He'd said when handing it out. Halfway through the detention, I raise my hand.  
"Yes, Natsu?" Mr Justine asks.  
"Mr Justine, would you consider helping us start a GSA?" He stops for a second. As if thinking.  
"A GSA?"  
"Gay/Straight Alliance." Sting answers. "We've got quite a few losers about who think it's acceptable to hurl homophobic abuse about."  
"We want to stamp it out." Gray continues.  
"And you're pretty cool guy, so we thought that you'd help us!" I finish. I look round to see that the others in the detention are staring eagerly. Apart from Laxus, who seems to be falling asleep.  
"What would this GSA do?" Mr Justine asks.  
"We'd have a certain room as 'our' room," Gray says, "And we'd hold meetings or just have that room to hang out in."  
"And we'd spend the meetings coming up with stuff to make people think twice." Sting adds with a laugh.  
"So you're passionate about this?" Mr Justine asks, as if he's seriously considering it. Why wouldn't he?  
"Hell yeah!" We all shout.  
"Okay! How about you use this room?" Mr Justine replies, showing keen interest. "When would be best to hold meetings?"  
"How about Thursday after school?" Sting suggests, "There's no sports practices or clubs on then."  
"Sounds good!" Mr Justine smiles, before turning to Laxus. "Will you be attending, Laxus?"  
Laxus's head rises from the table, realising that somebody has said his name. He sees that everyone's looking at him and sleepily looks at Mr Justine.  
"Huh?"  
"The GSA meeting on Thursday!" Sting says with a grin,  
"It'll be fun!" Gray adds,  
"If you don't come, I'll fight you!" I add for good measure.  
"You'd fight me anyway." Laxus deadpans.  
"No I wouldn't! Fight me!"  
Everyone sweatdrops for some reason.  
"Hate to break it to ya, but it ain't my kinda thing." He grunts. Laxus is a cool guy, but I wish he'd stop being so cold!  
"Why not?" Sting whines, "It'll be fun!"  
"You can bring your friends!" Gray adds.  
"It seems you're a rather influential person, Laxus." Mr Justine says, using the same tone of voice as when he was analysing Sting in English class, "I'm not forcing you into anything, but I suggest that you consider it."  
Laxus grunts. The bell rings and we all head off towards form, preparing ourselves for the last two lessons of the day. Well we would be, if we didn't have a big blonde spark plug to beat sense into.  
"Laxus you have to go!" Sting pleads,  
"Yeah! And Mr Justine's helping us with running it; he's about the coolest guy there is!" I add, thinking that'll seal the deal.  
Laxus pauses a second and sighs, "I'll think about it." Then he walks away.  
Sting squints a little, perplexed, "Is that a yes or-"  
"It's as close as we'll get from him." Gray replies, "Let's get to form before we get another detention."  
We all nod and Gray and I split off from Sting; Sting's form is in the technology block whereas ours is in the main school building. As we join hands again, we smile.

 _We're finally gonna do something worthwhile!_


	5. Sting

"Heya Rogueee!" I shout in a singsong voice as I burst into form, not caring about the weird looks it gets me. I ruffle his fringe before taking the seat next to his. Rogue blushes slightly.  
"Is that your new boyfriend?" I hear an all-too-familiar voice from the other side of the desk. My little brother Lector is sat alongside a smiling, slightly built boy with big, dark brown eyes and a mop of green hair not styled dissimilarly to Rogue's. He's wearing a pink hoodie with black patches and there's bits on the top that make him slightly resemble a frog.  
"The hell are you doing here?" I ask, confused. Lector isn't in this form. In fact, neither of these year sevens were in here this morning.  
"I'm here with Frosch!" Lector beams as a reply.  
"Fro thinks so too!" The green haired boy exclaims. I remember Rogue talking about having a little brother called Frosch, and this must be the guy.  
"Heya Frosch!" I greet the boy, holding out my hand for him to shake it. He glances towards Rogue who nods his approval and then grabs my hand and shakes it.  
"Be nice to Rogue, okay? He's the best brother ever!"  
I laugh, and Rogue blushes a little. He is so adorable.  
"He's awesome, right?" I grin to Frosch and he grins back. "I love the hoodie, by the way. Where did you get it?" Rogue suddenly becomes very occupied with something in his lap.  
"Rogue made it for me!" Frosch beams, "Mama bought the hoodie, and Rogue made it look like a frog! He makes things for me all the time, and he's very good at taking care of me and Mama."  
Rogue is currently bright red. It's evident that he didn't want this information to be shared and it makes my heart sink a little.  
"That's awesome!" I reply, and I mean it. "You're a pretty lucky guy to have Rogue around, huh."  
"Uh huh!" Frosch nods, "And Rogue doesn't realise it, but without him I don't know what I'd do. He's my best friend. I don't want him to get hurt like before."  
At the words "like before", my heart sinks into my stomach. I look at him and see that he can't meet my gaze. I look back to Frosch.  
"Yeah well I'm not gonna hurt him. Ever." I tell him and I know I won't. I've known him half a day but I know that we'll be friends for a while, and hopefully more for even longer. Rogue is too precious for me to lose: my whole life has been filled with blinding white light; the blinding light of being expelled from the womb into Life's cold caress, the blinding light of moment before my father died in the accident, the blinding light of the fire that killed my mother, the blinding light of my nightmares. It splits my skull in two and renders me blind. But Rogue, Rogue is like the shadows. A safe place to retreat from the burning heat of this infernal sun in the back of my mind. He turns down the brightness and lets me see the world in a million different colours. Rogue gives me clarity.  
"Pinky promise?" Frosch says, completely serious. I agree and shake his pinky finger.  
"Cross my heart and hope to die." I reply. Frosch looks satisfied. I glance towards Lector and see he's wearing a shit-eating grin. My phone goes off and I see that he's texted me.

 _"u like him, dont u?"_

I scowl.

 _"So what if I do? Can you blame me?"_

Lector raises an eyebrow, and his silly little grin grows wider. I love Lector to bits, really I do, but when he gets like this it's just annoying. I send him one last message.

 _"Don't tell Happy."_

Lector looks disappointed. I know that he wouldn't tell Happy anyway, but I'm just staying on the safe side.  
"H-How was your detention, Sting?" Rogue asks, finally finding his voice. I forget that in my conversation with Lector that we've been totally silent.  
"It was pretty awesome, actually." I reply with a smile, "Mr. Justine agreed to help us with the GSA! He's pretty cool. We're trying to get Laxus involved-"  
"Laxus won't get involved." Lector interrupts, "He'll be all like, "ain't my thing" and shrug and walk off with his friends."  
"Yeah," I interject, "But there's rumours going around that Bickslow is aro, so that might help things out."  
"Who the hell knows anything about Bickslow except those two?" Lector smirks, and he has a point; Bickslow is quite the odd character. Rogue looks confused.  
"Bickslow's the kid in our year with the swirly eyeliner and weird hair." I inform him, "Y'know, the stoner kid?"  
"Don't call him a stoner." A deep voice behind us growls. Rogue and I turn to see Laxus standing there, looming over us.  
"Well I heard-" I try to defend myself. Laxus and I may live in the same house and be family, but nobody, nobody messes with his friends and survives it.  
"You ain't heard shit." He snarls. "If you had a fucking clue."  
"S-Sorry." I mumble. It's not just because Laxus is freaking scary either, it's because if anyone said something like that about Lector or Rogue or any of my friends I would be _mad._  
Laxus scowls and walks past our desk to the printer in the corner of the room. Keying in his login details, he photocopies an A4 sheet.  
"Whatcha copyin'?" I ask him, trying to diffuse the tension.  
"Bicks's science homework." He replies in his usual monotonous tone. He has let me off with a warning, it seems.  
"We had homework?!" I ask, slightly panicked. Our science teacher does not take kindly to forgotten homework. Laxus shows a doodled-on sheet with half-assed answers in scrawled handwriting. I'm about to get up and grab it when the sheet's author bursts into the room.  
"Yo, Laxus!" He yells, sticking his tongue out and wrapping his arms around the blonde hulk. Nobody is daunted by this, not even the teacher. Everyone knows that Bickslow is overly affectionate. "You got any sweeties, baby? I got the munchies!"  
Laxus sighs and pulls a bag of jelly babies out of his shirt pocket, handing them over.  
"Bickslow!" I hear a high pitched voice call from the other side of the table. Everyone turns to see Frosch grinning. Bickslow laughs and takes a seat next to him.  
"Yo Fro! Want a sweetie?" Bickslow asks, offering Frosch the bag. Frosch takes a blackcurrant one and pops it in his mouth. Laxus stares shocked; Bickslow never shares his sweets. Bickslow turns to Laxus and explains himself: "Fro was in student support this morning, he's a pretty cool guy."  
"How are the babies?" Frosch asks, and Bickslow's face lights up. He reaches under two jackets to pull something out of a sweatshirt pocket.  
How much clothing does this guy wear?!  
He lays five tiki dolls on the desk; each is made of wood and carved with a little face on it. Fro picks one up and starts playing with it. Laxus is actually gobsmacked.  
"Can I see the drawings again?" Fro asks, and Bickslow reaches into his bag and pulls out an old, blue leather-bound notebook and opens it to a page full of sketches. Not only of the dolls, but of people. They look different to the doodles seen on Bickslow's work: more careful. It's evident that they weren't drawn by his own hand. Laxus looks like he's about to faint; it's obvious that this isn't typical Bickslow behaviour. I try to get a closer look when Bickslow and Frosch cover the notebook up protectively.  
"This is a special book. You can't look." Frosch says, taking a hold of it and leafing through pages between two Post-It notes that Bickslow has placed in to show what Fro is allowed to look at, presumably. The bell rings, beckoning us to fourth lesson and Bickslow gets up as quickly as possible, scooping up his belongings and dragging Laxus out of the room. We get up to follow him. As I head into the main school building, I remember there being something on the desk. I check through my belongings and see I have everything.  
 _Whatever it is, someone will find and return it. Right?_


	6. Wendy

I giggle as Chelia makes a joke at our Textiles teacher who's given her a detention for talking in class. Chelia gets a lot of detentions for that. We take our seats in the back of the Art classroom and Chelia grabs our sketchbooks from the shelf. As she sits down next to me, Chelia's skirt rides up a tiny bit.  
Why am I noticing this?  
I look away quickly, a slight blush on my face. Just then Romeo Conbolt, my other best friend, walks into the room; in his hand is an old, blue, leather-bound notebook.  
"Guys have you seen this?" He says with a glint in his eyes as he walks in, "Someone left it in RM!"  
"Oooh! Let's have a look!" Chelia replies in a similar manner, but I feel that it's wrong.  
"We have to return it." I say, as sternly as I can muster. I'm a pretty passive person and don't want to start a fight. The others scowl, before agreeing with me.  
"We ought to find who it belongs to first!" Romeo says, just as enthusiastically as when he said to look through it. I slip the notebook into my bag and we sit through the lesson, drawing the same still life drawing that we have done for the past few years to keep track of our progress.

The actual drawings take about fifty minutes to complete. I take one last look at my drawing and I'm satisfied that It's the best I can do. I look over at Romeo's book to find that his shoe looks like it's been mangled by several small puppies and Chelia's does not look like a shoe at all. Our teacher, Mr Jonah, is a very nice man but it seems to be difficult to teach us. The bell rings signalling the end of the day and the three of us get up, stowing our things in our bags and leaving the Arts block, taking a shortcut to the bus bay instead of walking across the rugby field. I already know that we're all heading to my place so we walk along the road where all the buses are parked in single file, looking in the windscreens to try and find the right number. Finally I see the familiar 13 and we climb aboard, Romeo and Chelia paying £1 and me showing my pass. We take our seats near the back and Romeo immediately jumps into the nearest window seat. He pats the seat besides him coyly and we laugh, until we realise that there are no sets of seats that wouldn't involve us sitting by a stranger. Chelia and I exchange a glance.  
"You take that seat," Chelia insists, "I'll find somewhere else!"  
"Nonsense!" I reply; I get the odd feeling that I should act chivalrously around her. "I could do with making some friends on here. You take that seat."  
Chelia and Romeo look at me and I walk further down the aisle looking for someone who won't try and beat me up, finally spotting an empty seat by a boy with long, blonde hair who looks like he's in year eleven, despite being very short and slight. His face is stoic and slim and his pose is refined. I look further back only to see a gang of loud and scary-looking kids who I'd quite like to avoid. I turn to the boy near me.  
"E-Excuse me!" I mutter, but he doesn't hear me. "Excuse me!" I repeat, louder this time, and he removes an earphone.  
"Yes?" The boy asks. His voice is high and clear and he speaks with received pronunciation. This guy definitely won't beat me up.  
"Is that seat taken?" I gesture at the seat by him and his eyes scan me, analysing me. It's uncannily like the new English teacher, Mr Justine. The boy shakes his head and offers me the seat. I sit down and place my bag on my lap. The boy straightens up.  
"My name's Rufus, Rufus Lore." He introduces himself, "And you are?"  
"Wendy Marvell! It's a pleasure to meet you!" I hold out my hand and he shakes it.  
"Ah! So you're the little sky princess that Sting won't shut up about."  
My face goes bright red. I'm very close with a group of year elevens after having one of them as a family friend. Natsu, Gajeel, Laxus, Sting and Erik (who moved away several years ago and is known as 'Cobra' for his slippery ways) all seem to be rather protective of me. I don't get it but there's just something between us that binds us together; the new boy, Rogue, seems to have this quality too. I love those boys to bits and don't know what I'd do without them, but they can be rather embarrassing. Rufus chuckles.  
"Don't worry. Just talk about Rogue to him and you'll have him at your feet."  
"The new boy?" I ask,  
"Yes. If I recall correctly, Sting's absolutely mad for him."  
I giggle. It's very easy to imagine a madly-in-love Sting desperate not to let his very obvious crush show. Suddenly, a mint imperial comes flying through the air and hits Rufus on the head.  
"YO GAYBOY STOP PASSING YOUR DISEASE TO THE CHILDREN!" Comes a yell from the back, presumably from the guy who threw the sweet. My brow knits into a frown and I'm about to retaliate when a girl with mousy hair styled into cat ears turns around.  
"YO HOMOPHOBE STOP PASSING _YOUR_ DISEASE TO THE CHILDREN!" She yells, seemingly out of character as the boy looks shell-shocked. "JUST BE GRATEFUL THAT KAGURA-CHAN ISN'T ON HERE OR SHE'D WHOOP YOUR ASS."  
"Are you lesbo for her or something?" The boy sneers.  
"As it happens we've been dating since year nine." The girl replies, a wild and feline grin on her face, "Which is why she turned you down in biology class today."  
The boy stops dead in his tracks and all his friends burst into laughter. The girl turns around, satisfied. Rufus turns to her.  
"You didn't need to do that... I take it you wanted to keep your relationship secret."  
"It's nothing!" She smiles, "We were talking about going public anyways. Besides, these losers need to learn a lesson and that stuff between you and Orga is just rumours, right?"  
Rufus looks into his lap with a sad look in his eye. "Yeah... We're just friends."  
The girl's voice softens. "It's like that?"  
Rufus nods. "It's like that."  
"I'm sure he'll come round." The girl reassures him, and the corner of Rufus's mouth turns up in another sad smile.  
The bus stops and I see it's at my stop. I wave goodbye to Rufus and the girl and get off the bus to join my friends and little sister, Carla.  
"What happened just then?" Romeo asks as we walk down the street towards my house.  
"I ended up sat next to a boy in year eleven, Rufus Lore, and someone yelled at him and that girl with the cat ears stuck up for him."  
"Millianna?" Chelia asked, "Year eleven, obsessed with cats?"  
"I think so."  
"Ah! She and her friends are super nice."

We reach my front door and the four of us head inside. When we get in, my mother's already inside cooking dinner.  
"Hello kids!" She calls, "How was your first day back?"  
"It was great thanks, Grandine!" Chelia chirps as we head into the kitchen and join her, doing the odd bit of washing up and cleaning. That's how our family works; everyone helping each other. We all love it. We chat as we work, and soon the food is done and we sit at the table with a plate heaped with cauliflower cheese before us; my mother's cauliflower cheese is the best. She used to run a small cafe/diner thing and apparently that was the one thing they kept coming back for. She shut down shop a few years ago though, and doesn't like to talk about it. We all thank my mother and dig in.  
"So how was the first day? Did anything exciting happen?" My mother asks. Chelia, Romeo and I exchange a glance. Fortunately, Carla speaks first.  
"It was good. I've made friends with this boy who just moved from the south as well as Happy and the others."  
"Oh really?" My mother replies happily, "You ought to invite them all over for tea one time, it would be lovely to meet them. What about you three?"  
"I found a notebook in class." Romeo says.  
"We haven't looked inside it!" Chelia adds urgently.  
"We just need to find out whose it is." I finish. "All we know is that it's a blue, leather-bound thing."  
My mother freezes.  
"Mama?" Carla asks, "Is everything okay?"  
She nods, "Could I see this notebook?"  
"Sure." I agree, worried. We wash up in silence and head into the living room. I grab the notebook from my bag and hand it to my mother. We all stare anxiously at her. She sits there for a while, looking at the book. She turns to the inside back cover and freezes. She runs her thumb over something in the bottom corner and a small tear leaks out of the corner of her eye.  
"Mama!" I exclaim, "What's wrong?"  
She blinks a few times, sniffs, composes herself and finally says in a low, breaking voice, "I know whose notebook this is. And I think it's about time I told you what happened to my business."

We all gather round as my mother tells us everything.

* * *

We pull up to a rather large house on a rather fancy estate in town. Carla is in the front seat, pale white with shock. Romeo's face is similar. Chelia is sobbing violently and I don't know how to feel. I stare at the notebook in my hands and can't believe the story behind it. I swallow and open the car door and shakily climb out. I grab Chelia's hand and pull her out and Romeo follows us. We make our way to the front door and hesitantly knock. It opens almost immediately and we are greeted by a tall teenage boy with strangely styled blue hair and wild eyes with eyeliner drawn in curls on the lids. He looks almost hysterical with his hair a mess and a look of feral desperation etched all over his body. I hold out the notebook and he stops for a second, his twitching body softening before grabbing the three of us in an all-encompassing bear hug which lifts us off the floor. We can hear his quiet sobs and we know why he's upset. He puts us down again and we grab him by the waist.  
"Oh Bickslow..." I mutter in a slight sob.

 _What did he do to deserve this?_


	7. Rufus

I walk into school with Millianna and Wendy. After the incident on the bus yesterday afternoon, it seems that we've formed a friendship. Wendy seems slightly shaken. I notice her little sister, Carla, walking with her friends and see that she is in a similar state. By the looks of things, something happened last night, but I don't question it; I don't want to trigger anything. We make small talk until we reach the students' entrance and Millianna finds her friends. She waves us a "see you later" and joins them. I then accompany Wendy to her locker where a girl and a boy who I remember got on the bus last night are waiting. They seem to share Wendy and Carla's shaken expressions. As I leave them, I give them a small, reassuring smile to show that I know something's up but that I won't press them for it. They nod in response and give sad smiles in return. A silent "thank you" for staying out of it. I reach the end of the corridor and take a right up the staircase to a bundle of lockers where Minerva and Dobengal are listening to an overexcited Sting gushing about the previous night. I walk up behind him and listen in.  
"-And then I was like 'You hang up first.' and he got totally nervous and blushy and it was adorable but he was all like 'You hang up first' and it was like that for ages and oh my god I actually love him but I don't stand a chance I mean..." Sting stops as he notices the glares the other two are giving him. He turns around, sees me and sweatdrops.  
"Um... H-Hi, Rufus!"  
I scowl. As it happens, I'm in a bit of a predicament when it comes to matters of love, and my friends seem to think that everything about relationships will trigger some kind of horrific flood of tears. Whilst I know that they're only trying to help, it ends up making things worse.  
"Hello Sting, Minerva, Dobengal. Please continue talking, it's quite a sweet story."  
Just then, my "predicament" approaches from the staircase: my lifelong best friend and love interest, Orga Nanagear. Alongside him is Yukino, Minerva's girlfriend, and Rogue, the boy that Sting is head over heels for. To be fair, his love is probably requited. Unlike mine. Yukino gives Minerva a peck on the cheek as she greets us and Rogue waves us a quick "hello". I look up at Orga and he gives me a quick smile and I respond like I have done for the past nigh-on sixteen years: I hold back the butterflies running rampant through my body and return it. He then asks how I am with those brilliant pale chocolate eyes, and I reply that I'm okay with my own. We have conversations with our eyes a lot. It makes hiding things a lot more difficult. Fortunately, all he knows about my issue is that I'm being friendzoned by some mystery guy who I'm hopelessly infatuated with which is true, but he doesn't know all of the details. Orga senses me deep in thought and silently asks if I'm telling the truth. I nod slightly, but am not quite able to meet his gaze.  
Oh guys!" Sting announces, tearing me from my reverie and conversation. "I asked Mr Justine about the GSA and the first meeting's Thursday night in his room!"  
I smile. I've been wanting something like this to happen for a while now. Then I remember exactly what Thursday is: the sixth. Orga's birthday.  
"Sting you do realise you are the world's biggest numbskull." I deadpan.  
"Eh? What do you mean?" Everyone looks at me, confused.  
"It's Orga's birthday on Thursday." I chide, "Unless you've forgotten."  
Everyone stops and realises.  
"Shit." Sting replies before turning to Orga, "Sorry dude."  
"It's fine." Orga says, "I'm going anyways. It's not like my birthday's a big deal, I've had fifteen of 'em already!" He adds with a laugh. "Besides, if I meet this guy who's being a dick to Rufus then beating the crap out of him will be enough of a present."  
The others splutter before coughing or laughing to cover it up. Orga looks slightly confused for a second before the bell rings and everyone heads their separate ways to form. Orga and I have form together so we walk together. We've always been like that; inseparable. Best friends. I'd be satisfied if that's all we'll ever be. Satisfied, but not happy. We reach our form, Mr Justine's, and notice a sign already on the door advertising the GSA. Some kids point and laugh, most ignore it but there's the odd kid who looks at the sign with hope in their eyes. We enter the room and take our usual seats at the back. Lisanna Strauss, who sits at the desk next to us, waves hello and we start talking to her. It's nothing personal like the silent conversations that Orga and I have, but she's a pleasant girl and it's entertaining to talk about the day in store for us. Mr Justine walks in, takes the register and just checks in on everyone. He's a good teacher, showing that he actually cares whilst keeping a high level of professionalism. Suddenly, the door bursts open and a tall teenage boy with navy blue hair which is shaven in places swirling eyeliner around wayward eyes. Bickslow. Some find him scary, others find him fascinating. There's only one word that can describe him: legendary.  
"Goooooood morning Mister Justine, kyahaha!" He cries with his arms in the air and a near-feral grin on his face. Most of the form laugh, whilst others cringe.  
"You must be Bickslow." Mr Justine replies with a small smile, "I've heard a lot about you."  
"I'll bet you have, baby! Kyaha!" A lot of the newer students are in complete shock, but the rest of us laugh. This is how Bickslow is.  
"So what brought you to grace us all with your presence this morning?" Mr Justine asks, standing up and making wide gestures to match Bickslow's attitude.  
"It's about this wonderful little extra-curricular activity you're running within these sublime four walls." Bickslow replies with equal vigour whilst gesturing towards the GSA poster.  
Mr Justine smirks. "Ask ahead."  
"Firstly," Bickslow points one finger to the air and says in a serious tone, "Am I okay to bring in sweeties and share them?" Most of the form laugh.  
"You may." Mr Justine replies with identical seriousness, "It'd certainly be a good advertising point. And secondly?"  
Bickslow remains serious for a second before cracking up in a childish smile, "Will there be stickers?"  
"No, there won't be sticker-"  
"Well let me tell you something, sir," Bickslow says, jumping up on the table, "I think that we should have stickers. You wanna know why?"  
"Well I-"  
"Excellent!" Bickslow jumps down from the desk and sits Mr Justine down. "Now Mister Justine sir, stickers are a beautiful thing. You see Orga there?" Bickslow gestures to Orga and every eye drifts to his face.  
"I do see him yes."  
"He's quite difficult to avoid." This gets a giggle, "Anyway. Whilst he's a very manly man, his heart's one desire is for a sticker." Bickslow places a hand to his heart and looks to the sky for maximum effect. "I sit by him in RM, in dear Miss Olietta's class, and I can feel the agony building inside him over not having a sticker on his chest; the satisfaction of peeling the paper from paper and having it cling to the fibres of your clothes like a baby koala to its mother."  
Orga chuckles. "I can confirm this, sir." He calls to him and I smile, looking up at him and giving him a look that says,  
 _"You are never going to hear the last of this."_  
 _"There's nothing wrong with stickers, dude."_ He replies in mock hurt.  
I chuckle and let Bickslow continue.  
"Alongside this desire within us, stickers are an excellent form of communication." All eyes turn to him again, "I'm afraid, Orga dearest, that I'll have to return to you again and the dire vibes I receive from you in RM. See Mister Justine Sir, I am ninety nine point nine percent sure that Mister Nanagear here has the hots for his little Ruru."  
Now, when somebody calls you something like "little Ruru" AND claims that the boy you've been in love with for almost sixteen years and you're convinced is friendzoning you likes you back there are better things to do than fall off your chair, yet that's what I do anyway. Orga helps me up and I sit back in my seat the colour of a beetroot. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Bickslow continues undeterred.  
"He brings him into every conversation we have and if, Mister Justine Sir, you look at the way he's sat you'll notice that he is angled slightly towards him and away from poor, third-wheeling Lisanna and by the colour of little Ruru's face it- and he- works both ways."  
I deadpan, going even redder than before.  
"However! These two don't know that, and with our heteronormative society they may never realise their love! So how do we do this subtly? With a sticker, of course! So you see Mister Justine Sir, we need stickers."  
Bickslow takes a bow and the class applaud. I'm still rendered slightly speechless by his deduction and paralysed from embarrassment but I manage to give a couple of small claps.  
"That was very impressive, Bickslow," Mr Justine stands up again and looks at the boy before him, "But you didn't let me finish. We don't have stickers because..." He reaches underneath his desk and pulls out a box, "We have badges."  
Bickslow's eyes light up.  
"Well Mister Justine Sir it seems that you've beaten me. I'm definitely gonna come along now, kyaha! I'll drag Laxus and Ever too, and threaten to touch their hair!" Bickslow turns to the class, "If you're not me, it's a _bad_ idea to do that. Bye byee, baby! Kyahahahaha!"  
And as quickly as he came in, he leaves.  
"Well that was something else." Lisanna chuckles, "Now then..."  
"It's not true." We protest at the same time.  
"He likes someone else." Orga says,  
"He isn't into males." I add,  
"He just doesn't like me, okay?" We both shout at the same time. Lisanna bursts out laughing.  
"No, sillies. I was just about to say that Bicks is kinda cute. But if you insist..."  
Fortunately, the bell chooses that moment to ring and I head off without Orga. I can't bring myself to face him. I have Maths first lesson anyway, and he's in a different set.

I look at the board in the maths classroom to see that the seating plan hasn't changed again, the same for every year since year seven. I sit by Dobengal at the back of the class and rest my head in my hands, running my hands through my hair. Dobengal taps on my shoulder.  
"What's up?" He asks, worried.I look at him and completely demolish my guard. I swallow, brace myself, and say the words I never wanted to say.  
"Dobengal. I've ruined everything."  
Dobengal bites his lip. "I'm sure it'll be okay."  
I laugh bitterly, "It won't be okay. I never stood a chance."

 _After all, I'm a firefly and he's a supernova._


	8. Evergreen II

It's break, and it's cold. Bickslow and Laxus have dragged me on a small walk around the school grounds because our silly deputy head won't let me in the hall with my art portfolio.  
"It's ridiculous!" I huff again, "Laxus, your grandfather's the head. Can't he do anything about it?"  
"Maybe." He yawns, and I know that he didn't sleep again last night. I sigh. Back when I first figured it out, I told him to see a doctor. Even to this day I wish I hadn't said that.

We reach a cluster of benches and find all but one empty. The occupied one is filled with a very exasperated looking boy with spiky, silver hair. Silver like slivers of the moon itself. I stop thinking before I start to blush.  
"Oh shit." I whisper. I increase my pace slightly, hoping not to bee seen and for him not to be notice-  
"OOH, EVER!" Bickslow wraps his arms around my shoulders and cackles with a shit-eating grin on his face. "Someone seems a little lonely. Why don't you go talk to him? Kyaha!"  
I scowl and turn to Laxus, my eyes pleading for him to help.  
"I think you should see what's up." He says tiredly.  
 _Traitor!_  
I huff and walk over to him, looking over my shoulder to see that those morons have already left. I stand over the bench that he's sitting on and clear my throat. He snaps out of his reverie and moves his bag, inviting me to sit by him. I take the seat.  
"What's up? You look a little done with life." I greet him.  
"That was exhausting." He sighs, "I didn't think I'd ever be in such an awkward situation."  
"Huh?"  
"Tell Bickslow that if he tries to play Cupid again I'll punch him in the jaw."  
I'm confused for a second before remembering Bickslow telling Laxus and I how he'd gone into Mr Justine's form and caused chaos.  
"Is this about Rufus and Orga?"  
Elfman nods, "I just had History and I sit right between them. I became note-passer and relationship guru for the hour."  
I chuckle. "What happened in the end?"  
Elfman scowls. "They didn't even get together. They just decided to be friends who know they like each other."  
I moisten my lips with my tongue. There are two ways I could take this...  
"It isn't surprising. I think fifteen is a bit young to be in love."  
 _Idiot!_  
"What do you mean by that?"  
I swallow, "Mostly, at our age, we just get infatuated with people and think it's true love. It's better to be totally sure and wait."  
Elfman looks at me, perplexed, and I know that there's no way I'm getting out of this without explaining. I look at the floor, waiting for him to figure it out.  
"You don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to." He says, placing an arm on my shoulder. The touch soothes me, inviting me to confide in him and trust him. "I know we've only been talking a day," He continues, "You don't have to tell me everything."  
At this point, I know I should drop it and move on, but his touch is so comforting and I'm an idiot.  
"It's fine. I could do with swallowing my pride for once." I shrug, "I haven't confided in anyone for a while."  
Elfman smiles, and indicates that he's ready to listen. I take a deep breath, and begin.

"You remember the end of year nine and most of year ten?" I ask, already knowing his answer.  
"When you dated Will Hughes?"  
The name makes me cringe. "Yes." I continue with another rhetorical question; "Do you remember all the rumours that went round about me?"  
Elfman looks uneasy and nods.  
"Well..." I want to stop, but I have to continue now. My vocal cords are compelling me. "Most of them are true," I see him wince, "But not one thing I did was out of choice."  
Elfman shifts in his seat. "You mean he...?" His voice trails off.  
I bite my lip and nod.  
Snarling, Elfman grips the edge of the bench. "Did he ever... You know?"  
I shake my head, still unable to face him. "He would've, but I said no. In the end, it was that that made him leave."  
"And it was like that for all that time?"  
"All nine months of it." I moisten my lips again. My mouth feels arid. "But I couldn't leave. I just couldn't. He kept using the word 'love' against me. It was always 'Don't you love me?', 'I'm depressed, if you stop loving me I'll kill myself!' and 'I'll be the only one who ever loves you.' He told me that if I disobeyed, I'd have blood on my hands." A tear rolls down my cheek. I can feel Elfman's body completely rigid with rage next to mine, the wooden bench cracking slightly in his grasp. "I couldn't do anything, my hands were tied. I just had to go ahead with it." My lips begin to quiver as more tears drip from my eyes, emotions choking me somewhat. "I know I seem confident and vain, but that's just to hide that what he did..." I hiccough, an ugly sound, "Made me hate myself more than you could imagine."  
"So everything that people spread about was stuff he forced on you?"  
I nod.  
"And the time you came in with that bruise on your face, and you said you'd walked into a door?"  
I look up at him and see his face trembling with resentment.  
"You remember that?"  
He looks me straight in the eye, scouring for the truth. "Did he do that?"  
I swallow again. "That was the first time I said no."  
Elfman looks at me with vexed eyes for a moment before resting a hand over mine, rough fingers carving gentle, soothing patterns on my skin.  
"As a man, I won't let this go. I'll kill him for this."  
"Elf-" I interject,  
"No," He snarls, "He's pathetic. He needs to learn a lesson. " His lip curls into a savage grin, "Especially if he's gonna mess with a woman like yourself."  
I'm about to ask what that means when the bell rings, signalling the end of break. I'm about to go to Games when Elfman stops me.  
"Didn't you fall on your shoulder yesterday? Why don't you sit out?"  
I scowl. "I'm fine. It doesn't hurt." That's a lie. It kills.  
"Oh. I phrased that wrong." Elfman scratches the back of his neck in a rather endearing fashion. "I forgot my kit, and I could do with someone to sit out with."  
Smirking, I agree and we head to the separate changing rooms.

* * *

"How unmanly." Elfman groans as Levy McGarden attempts to hit a rounders ball, spins in a circle and falls on the floor. Sure enough, she is stumped out by Jellal. Levy huffs to the back of the queue as Loke takes her place.

Elfman and I sit alone near the queue of people waiting to bat, which unfortunately includes not only Bickslow but the scrawny, greasy haired boy of my nightmares and his equally greasy best friend; Will Hughes and Liam Simms. Elfman keeps his rage to a mildly pissed off level at my request as they make the occasional glance and snicker. As Loke hits a rounder and joins the back, Bickslow walks backwards towards the batting square, looking straight at us with his index finger and thumb in a small 'O'. As he walks, he grabs his bat and repeatedly moves it against the 'O' shape. It takes a second for it to sink in.  
 _How juvenile!_  
Sensing my annoyance with glee, Bickslow steps up to the plate with his bat poised. Gray bowls and Bickslow swings his bat back ready only to hit the backstop, Hibiki Lates, in the face. Bickslow turns back and apologises as blood seeps out of Hibiki's nose. The teachers quickly take Hibiki away and tell the players to stop until they get back.  
I sigh and run up to Bickslow, leaving Elfman behind.  
"Bickslow you are such a-"  
"Slut!" A loud voice calls. I turn to see Will and Liam grinning and staring at me.  
 _How wonderful._  
Bickslow shifts, agitated. I know what's coming and I'm glad that Laxus is in IT.  
"Bickslow, honestly it's just-"  
"SLUT!" Another voice calls, louder this time.  
 _Playing Bogies? How immature!_  
"See, Bicks? It's just a game of-"  
"Stupid SLUTTY bitch!" Will yells at the top of his voice. Liam laughs and everyone turns to face him. I sigh and focus on holding Bickslow back. I don't see Elfman approaching them, but I do see him punch Will right in the jaw. Shocked, I let go of Bickslow and he joins the fray screaming.  
"This is what you get for hurting Ever, you son of a whore!" Bickslow grabs Will by the front of his shirt and smashes his head against Will's, butting him like a young ram. Will curls up on the floor, crying like a baby. Liam is long gone, egging on the fight with most of the class. Even the goody-two-shoes kids look conflicted.

Bickslow picks Will up and is about to hit him again when Will's fist flies straight into his face. As Bickslow drops his opponent and wipes the blood from his face, Elfman steps up and punches Will in the stomach. Will grabs for Elfman's hair but Elfman grabs his arms as Bickslow punches him in the face again. Will droops, blood all over his face. The boys stop, and whilst Elfman keeps his hold on Will, Bickslow runs over to me and drags me over to where he's stood. They look at me, and I know it's about time for some long-due revenge. I grab him by the shirt, look him in the eyes - the eyes that tricked and abused me - and kick him right where a man should never have to be kicked. As I hear his cry of pain, the thrill is exhilerating. I know that if I look to the school building, I'd see everyone watching. I'm about to spit in his face when I hear a shrill cry.  
"EVERGREEN SCARLET!"  
I whip around to see the teacher has returned.  
 _Great._  
"COME WITH ME THIS INSTANT!"

* * *

Bickslow and Elfman are arguing with the teachers on the other side of the wall behind me. Their raised voices are insisting that I did nothing wrong. I myself sit opposite Mr Dreyar, our headteacher and Laxus's grandfather.  
"Now Evergreen. You're a good girl." He says in a stern yet kind tone, "What brought you to do this?"  
"I don't want to talk about it." I reply. Mr Dreyar - Makarov - is a trustworthy man, but I don't want anyone to make a big deal out of it.  
"I'm afraid that you're going to have to, my dear. Don't worry, you can trust me."  
"Well I-" I start, "It's a long story."  
"I'm willing to listen."  
I gulp and tell the old man everything, I've known everything. I've known him so long that there's no point in hiding it. Once I'm done, Mr Dreyar closes his eyes, deep in thought, and nods once.  
"We'll remove you from all classes with Will Hughes and we'll arrange for you to miss a Games lesson each week to talk to someone."  
I frown. I'm not that pathetic. "That won't be nec-"  
"I never said who." Mr Dreyar smiles, "I'm getting you and a friend out of a lesson. In the meantime, however... bring those two in, we'll discuss your punishment."

"She did nothing wrong!" Both Bickslow and Elfman run straight to my side when the door opens.  
"I know." Mr Dreyar chuckles, "Which s why, when violence usually means a term's exclusion, you will all be suspended for tomorrow and face isolation all day on Thursday. I have had all of your parents and carers called and they have come to pick you up. This way."  
Mr Dreyar leads us out of the school into the car park, where two cars are waiting right next to each other at the far end. The first is my foster mother's, the other belongs to Bickslow's aunt.  
"How are you getting home?" I ask Elfman, when I see no transport for him.  
"I'm walking. It's kinda a special provision considering it's just the three of us."  
"That was fun!" Bickslow laughs before I can react, "We should beat people up more often, kyaha!"  
Elfman shakes his head, "I did what any man would. Have a fun day off!"  
We laugh and head towards the parked cars. I know that my foster parents are going to kill me, but I don't care. Revenge is sweet! I feel my phone vibrate and see a message from Laxus:  
 _"You beat him up without me? And now you're ditching me? I'm gonna have to hang out with Sting or something. You guys suck."_  
I laugh, because it's the most enthusiastic I've seen him for a while. A few paces from the parked cars I can see the snarls worn by each carer. Bickslow and I share a "good luck" hug before bracing ourselves and approaching them. Bickslow gives me a shy thumbs-up and enters the car with his aunt shrieking from the get-go. My foster mother reacts similarly, but it's okay. Soon enough she'll have run out of steam. Besides, even if things do get shitty, I'll always have my friends!

 _What did I do to deserve these goons?_


	9. Rogue II

"Yo guys can Laxus hang with us again today?" Sting asks as he brings his giant sulking hulk of a cousin towards the corner where we meet on a morning. Laxus's friends beat up some kid on Tuesday so he has been following us around in order to avoid loneliness.

"Sure!" Yukino smiles,

"I take it your friends are still excluded." Dobengal says.

"Nope. They're just in iso. They'll be back tomorrow." Laxus sighs in a monotonous, tired voice. I get the feeling that he doesn't sleep all that much.

"One day's suspension and a day in iso for beating someone up?!" Orga deadpans. Apparently someone cut off a bit of Rufus's hair in year eight and Orga got suspended for a week for how he reacted.

"And didn't the kid they beat up get a term exclusion just for punching Bickslow in the face?" Minerva adds, squinting slightly. The situation does seem a little suspicious.

"There's more to it than that. If he'd just punched Bickslow, he'd have the same punishment as the others and they'd get a term's exclusion." Laxus sighs.

"So what else did he do?" Sting asks curiously. The others seem interested. As much as I love my new friends, they are quite the set of gossips.

"Ain't my story to tell." Laxus replies, signalling the end of the conversation.

"Yo Rogue!" Sting beams, looking my way.

Why does he have to do that? Does he not know it's adorable?!

"Yeah?" I reply as if my heart isn't exploding.

"Do you want to hang out after the GSA meeting?!" His eyes are full of light - the angelic light of excitement that attracts me to him like some giant moth to a flame. My heart sinks to my stomach and the acid inside dissolves it in the most painful way possible. There was never any way I could ever see friends after school, or do after school activities. I have to walk Frosch home, and I have to look after my mother. Sting doesn't know about her yet; none of my friends do. I never foresaw having a friend, and I most certainly never foresaw wanting to spend extra time in school or with the people there. Part of me wants to be honest with them, to tell them the truth, but my mind can't help but wander to the persecution I faced at my last school. In all honesty, I'm scared. Absolutely terrified that they'll all just think I'm some kind of freak and leave. With guilt twisting knots in my guts, I make up an excuse.

"Well actually-"

The bell rings, cutting me off. I tell Sting that I need to go to my locker and that I'll meet him in form. Sting offers to go with me but I decline. I need to be alone to figure out what I'm going to do, so I head off in a random direction on my own.

After wandering around the school for a couple of minutes I reach my locker and bang my head on the dull blue door.

What am I going to do?!

I smash my head on the door again. Muttering as I do so, "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."

"You okay there?" I stop and turn to see Bickslow stood in the otherwise empty corridor.

"Aren't you meant to be in isolation?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh! Apparently I might distract the others, probably with my immense beauty, so I'm doing it in Student Support. Aren't you meant to be in form?"

I sigh.

"Avoiding someone?"

I bite my lip. How did he know that?

"Avoiding telling someone something?"

I just deadpan as I look at him. He doesn't quite meet my gaze, but his eyes tend to flicker to me and then to a spot just over my shoulder. Even these quick glances show that he's watching; that he can see everything.

Bickslow laughs. "I'm not exactly the best person to go to for advice, but why dontcha come along and I'll try help you out, kyaha!"

I'm not particularly sure of what to do. I really ought to be going back to form, but I still have no idea what to do. I want to hang out with Sting, I really do, I just can't. I have Fro and my mother to take care of. They come first, even if I have feelings attached to others.

But I can't help but want to fit in, to stay by Sting and his blinding light.

* * *

Student Support is quite unlike the one I had at my previous school. Posters of each and every hue decorate each and every wall. The desks are painted many different colours and the chairs are big and incredibly comfortable. And there's pouffes! Bickslow ushers me in with a wide smile.

"Goooood morning, ladies!" He beams to the teaching assistants watching over the various students.

"Good morning, Bickslow." They reply, before one looks up, "Why have you brought a friend?"

"It's Fro Cheney's brother and I thought it would be a good idea to help him out before you throw me into the cold loneliness of-"

"Make it quick, please." The teaching assistant deadpans.

Bickslow thanks the teaching assistant with a wink and a "kyaha!" before dragging me into an isolated room.

"So what's eatin' ya?" Bickslow asks, leaning forward in a blue armchair opposite me staring at a spot just above my shoulder, yet his eyes are so intense that it feels like he can see my soul from there.

"You already figured it out." I reply.

Bickslow sits upright and cocks his head to the side, "That's just the main problem high school kids have, really. It was a lucky guess, kyaha!"

I bite my lip and think about things, in every situation, dishonesty and omission really are the things that cause most problems.

"Can I make another lucky guess?" Bickslow is sat forward again, accessing my soul from the spot above my shoulder.

"Go ahead." I mutter.

"It's to do with Sting, and you're totally gay for him."

I manage to make an ugly squawking noise.  
Bickslow cackles. "Don't worry about it. There are about three straight kids out of all the nice people in our year."  
"Oh…" I reply, mostly because I can't think of anything else to say. Bickslow slumps back in his chair.  
"So what's eatin' away atcha, baby?"  
I swallow. "You're close to Fro, aren't you?"  
Bickslow nods.  
"So you know…" I'm not entirely sure exactly how I can get my point across without breaking down. It sounds pathetic, I know it does, but my whole world seems to be crashing around me. "You know about her?"  
I hope that this will suffice. Bickslow gives a sombre nod. "I know about her."  
I sigh with relief. That's the worst of it done.  
"Sting invited me to go to the GSA meeting, and then to stay with him." I say, looking down at my knees, "Which I evidently can't do. I also need to make sure Fro gets home safely. I thought I could ask the nurse to stay a little longer, but I can't afford it and I can't work extra hours because I would need to ask the nurse to stay even more and I can't ask my mother to pay for it as she needs the money for herself and-"  
"I could pay for it." Bickslow interrupts me. At least, I think that's what he's said and not an illusion.  
"What?"  
"I can pay for it." He repeats, my aunt is loaded and through that I'm kinda loaded." I can't believe what I'm hearing.  
"But that would be unfair, how would I ever repay you?"  
"By being happy." Bickslow says quietly, staring at the small table between us.  
"What?"  
Bickslow takes a deep breath, and looks back up. This time, he doesn't look over my shoulder but straight into my eyes. It's terrifying.  
"I used to be in a similar position to Fro." He says, incredibly seriously and out of character, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm pretty messed up. I have problems not dissimilar to Fro's. Anyway, I had an older brother who worked his ass off to make my life better." Bickslow swallowed and took another breath, "Key word: _had_."  
I bite my lip. What does he mean by that?  
"Anyway," Bickslow continues, "He was happiest around his friends, and when he was happy, I was too. You mean the world to Fro, and I can't help but see myself when I look at him. I don't want him to turn out like me, I wouldn't wish that on anyone." Bickslow squints away a small amount of tears from the corners of his eyes. "Please. Go be happy and do your gay stuff with Sting, because it'll make Fro happy and through him your mother too. I can afford to pay the nurse for an extra hour, Fro can come to the meeting and then I can take care of things until you wanna go home." Bickslow gives another sad smile, "It's the least I can do."  
Complete shock. That is the only thing that registers in my mind.  
"Write your address down, I'll walk Fro home after the GSA and you go off to Sting's and have fun and possibly get busy." He embellishes that last bit with an eyebrow wiggle. "Fair warning, don't go on Laxus's side of the room. He will break you."  
After seeing him so intense, which I doubt even his best friends have seen often, it's refreshing to see Bickslow slowly return to what I presume is his usual state. It's evident that, at this point, he's expecting an answer. I don't think I could possibly agree to this, but the offer is far too tempting to let slide.  
"Come onnn!" Bickslow urges.  
I sigh. "We should probably leave, I have a phone call to make."

Bickslow _beams._

I finish the call and my mother and the nurse say that it's fine if I go, we head back out into Student Support. I'm about to go to form when Bickslow thanks me with a cheery wave. I give a small smile in return. As I leave the room, one of the teaching assistants comments on how Bickslow's eyeliner has smudged and Bickslow squawks, horrified. I chuckle as the door shuts behind me.

 _That boy is from another planet entirely._


End file.
